FSA Throws Weapons at Refugee Camp Hoping to Claim Control

The Syrian Civil War has already brought a number of other factions into its midst: Iraqis, Kurds, Lebanese, etc. But can Palestinians become another faction at war with itself? The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) seems to think so.

FSA commanders say they have begun arming “sympathetic Palestinians” in the Yarmouk refugee camp, having them form a group called the Liwa al-Asifah (Storm Brigade) explicitly to pick a fight with the existing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which current holds the camp.

The FSA believes the PFLP is insufficiently on board with the civil war, and has accused its leader, Ahmed Jibril, of “harassing” rebel forces and supporting Assad. One FSA commander termed the PFLP “targets for all the FSA. All of them with no exceptions.”

The long-term goal is for the Storm Brigade to use those weapons to take over the refugee camp, which houses over 100,000 Palestinians, and ensure that the camp supports the rebellion.

The Pro-Assad organisation they are against is called the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC). The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a separate organisation that is not as close to the Assad regime and is playing no role in the civil war.